BOARD01673

• Board Meeting Date: 3/21/2006
• Description: WSP Section - Request to Obtain Authorization to expend funds from the Litigation Fund to defend and protect Colorado's allocation of water from the Colorado River
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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ATTORNEY GENERAL OF COLORADO
John W. Suthers

March 9, 2006

Request for Expenditure from Litigation Fund
for Protection of Colorado.s Allocations in the Colorado River

Dear Board Members:

By this letter, I am requesting the expenditure of $958,880 over the next fiscal year
(FY07) from the Board's Litigation Fund under Section 37-60-l21(2.5)(a)(III), C.R.S. That
section authOlizes the Board to expend money from the Litigation Fund at the request of the
Attorney General for the costs to defend and protect Colorado. s allocations of water in interstate
streams and rivers. I believe this expenditure is necessary to adequately defend, in negotiations
or litigation, Colorado's allocations of the Colorado River.

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The Board gave approval in to November 2004 to expend $250,000 on Colorado River
Compact defense issues. With $100,000 of those funds, your staff hired an expert historian who
has made substantial progress ferreting out obscure documents relating to the Colorado River.
The Department of Law proposes to use a portion of the remaining funds this fiscal year (FY06)
to hire legal staff and begin the task of researching and drafting memoranda on the myriad of
legal issue identified by the State's compact representatives and assist in drafting rules for
Colorado should compact enforcement be required. The request also funds the tedious but
necessary job of collectiug, coding and imaging all relevant documents. The Department of Law
proposal requests your approval to use the Litigation Fund for the defense of the Colorado River
Compact in FY06 and FY07. Requests from the Department of Law to support this effort in
future years would be for General Fund monies.

As you know, Colorado River concerns are of a massive scale. The legal issues we plan
to tackle involve seven states, the federal government, and even the Republic of Mexico and
encompass two interstate compacts, an international treaty, a U.S. Supreme Court decision, and a
host of federal laws, with a historical record stretching back nearly a century. The technical
issues involve surface and groundwater uses over a quarter of a million square miles.

Experience has shown the Department of Law that preparation for complex interstate
span.ing takes time and money. Although we are encouraged by recent developments between
the Colorado River Basin States and the federal government to forestall litigation, and fully
support the Seven Basin States' proposal sent to Secretary Norton on February 3,2006, Colorado
needs to be prepared for the inevitable negotiations over the details of any proposed solutions.
The State also must be prepared to engage in litigation, if necessary, to protect Colorado.s
interests.

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State Services Building' 1525 Sherman Street-7th Floor. Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone [phone] . FAX [phone]